James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy easily remains in the lead at the Labor Day box office despite competition from new entries The November Man, the adult-skewing spy film starring Pierce Brosnan, and micro-budgeted thriller As Above, So Below.

Although official numbers for summer 2014 won't be released until Tuesday, North American revenue for the season will barely crack $4 billion, marking an eight-year low and, when accounting for inflation, marking a 17-year low. And revenue is down 15 percent from last year's record haul of $4.75 billion, the biggest year-over-year decline that anyone can remember.

Guardians has been one of the summer's few bright spots and is winning the long holiday weekend with a three-day gross of $16.3 million and projected four-day haul of $21.2 million. It's now the top-grossing film of 2014 to date in North America, grossing $274.6 million through Sunday and eclipsing the $259.8 million earned by fellow Marvel and Disney tentpole Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

New Labor Day weekend entries As Above, So Below and The November Man are doing only modest business, coming in No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, behind Guardians, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, If I Stay and R-rated comedy Let's Be Cops. (Complete numbers for the four-day weekend will be reported Monday morning.)

From Legendary Entertainment, As Above, So Below posted a three-day weekend gross of $8.3 million for a projected four-day total in the $10 million range. The psychological thriller cost a mere $5 million to make.

As Above, So Below follows a group of explorers that discover dark forces when they dive into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris. Universal is releasing the film, which targeted younger consumers with an aggressive digital campaign.

From director Roger Donaldson, The November Man opened Wednesday to get a jump on the action. It's three-day weekend take is $7.7 million for an estimated four-day total of $9.8 million, putting its six-day debut at a projected $11.5 million.

The $20 million-plus movie, which follows an ex-CIA agent (Brosnan) who is brought back for one more mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil, was made by The Solution Entertainment Group, Palmstar Media Capital and Merced Media Partners. Olga Kurylenko and Luke Bracey also star in November Man, which Relativity acquired for $3 million.

Poor reviews could be hurting November Man, although audiences liked it better, giving it a B+ CinemaScore. As Above, So Below earned a withering C- CinemaScore.

For the nostalgic set, Sony celebrated the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters by releasing the classic supernatural comedy in 784 theaters. The movie's projected four-day gross is nearly $3 million.

Among indie films, Jon Favreau's Chef has crossed the $30 million mark at the domestic box office, cooking up a sweet victory for the filmmaker and Open Road Films. The movie, once again expanding nationwide over the Labor Day holiday, is projected to gross $862,058 for the four days for a total $30.4 million.

John Carney's Begin Again also took advantage of the Labor Day holiday to once again expand. The Weinstein Co. release is expected to earn a pleasing $1 million for the four-day holiday for a domestic total north of $15 million.

"We can't really comment specifically in terms of where
we're going with it, just because we don't want to spoil anything for
anybody. But certainly, look. That's the great thing about the Marvel
universe, is anything is possible. All these characters exist. And as
we've seen on the publishing side, there's very inventive, creative ways
to make characters relevant again and surprising ways to make the
characters relevant again. He's a great character. Whether or not he
finds his way back I can't really say."

Anthony Russo was more forthcoming about the use of The Winter Soldierin the next film and how they plan to top the villains in the
last film:

"Here's the thing. The think we love about Bucky is he's a
really complicated character; very tragic, complicated character.
Here's a guy, when you look at him, is he the world's worst assassin or
is he the longest serving POW in history? You could look at him as one of two things. Either he's innocent by
reason insanity or the equivalent of that, in terms of not being
responsible for his actions because he was brain controlled, or he's a
monster. It's a very complicated place. It's a hard place to move
forward from that. In relationship to Cap, it's like is Cap ever going
to be able to access the guy he used to be?"

Joe Russo adds:

"If he can't, well who is Winter Soldier? Is he Bucky
Barnes anymore or is he somebody knew? So those are all really
interesting questions to ask with him. It's our job on the next one to outdo the villain from the last one.
But because that's a mandate of ours, it's always something we put an
incredible amount of focus on. The stakes aren't high enough. The
audience doesn't feel those stakes. If the characters aren't in jeopardy continually throughout the film,
then you lose a certain narrative momentum to the movie. As we said,
you can only define the hero against the villain. So the greater the
villain, the greater definition you get out of your hero."

In another interview with EW,
Joe Russo talked about how the tone of the next one will differ from
'Winter Soldier,' though likely not as much as between the first two
films.

"You have to work really hard to deliver something
different, and exciting, and challenging. That's what we're in the
middle of on Cap 3 right now, pushing really hard to make sure that what
we deliver is something that's gonna be different from Captain America:
The Winter Soldier. We're more grounded in the world of Winter Soldier
than Winter Soldier was grounded in First Avenger. The difference between First Avenger and Winter Soldier is that
seventy years has elapsed between the two movies. Cap was waking up in a
world that was a million miles away from the one he came from. That
gave us a narrative motivation to push the tonal and stylistic content
of the world forward. We don't have that same time elapsed here. It's the world Cap woke up
in still, even though it's several years later and some other
significant events have happened. At the same time, we are pushing Cap
to a place he hasn't been before."

"We always react and adjust to the material, and part of
Marvel's secret formula is that you keep working all the way until the
time you deliver the movie for exhibition. You keep working to make it a
better film. Things change as you work. So we will definitely be watching cuts of Avengers: Age of Ultron. We
talk to Joss when we can. We talk to [Marvel
Studios President Kevin Feige] when we can, just to get insight into
what they're doing, and what direction they're headed, so it'll
definitely impact us, without question, from a narrative standpoint.
From a tonal standpoint, perhaps. It's hard to say."

Asked if they have seen any footage from "Ultron," Joe Russo says they have only seen the San Diego Comic-Con footage:

"We've seen what everyone else has seen that was at
Comic-Con. We saw that incredible two minutes of footage from it. It
looks like the biggest movie ever made, so we're very excited for it. We
have read the script. It's incredible. I think Joss is going to blow
people away with this one."

"Soldier" screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have returned to pen the threequel script Production on the next film is slated to begin next April in Atlanta, Georgia. The studio has targeted a May 6th 2016 release.

The original movie saw hard ass anti-hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell)
living in a near future totalitarian United States where Manhattan
Island has been turned into a maximum security prison and Plissken has
one day to rescue the U.S. President (Donald Pleasance) who is being held hostage there.

Starlog also says the new film will be less focused on one man and more
an ensemble flick. It will retain the central premise of the original:

"[It's] more team-based, as Snake Plissken traverses
through a treacherous New York landscape with a rogues gallery of
criminals who look to leave the island-turned-prison in exchange for the
rescue of the captured U.S. President."

They say earlier drafts of the the script had a team-dynamic to it,
but subsequent re-writes have turned several of the supporting
characters into co-leads. Some are familiar, some are new:

"Plissken’s team consists of Mina, a warzone journalist
framed for murder and living in the shadows of New York as a scavenger;
Cabbie, a schizophrenic travel guide who serves as comic relief; Gareth,
the last surviving member of the President’s security detail who
harbors a dangerous secret; and The Brain, Plissken’s former
partner-in-crime who left him to die after a botched robbery."

The last we heard was that producers Joel Silver and Andrew Rona saw the new pic as part of a new trilogy which would begin with an origin tale. This report sounds like that notion could go either way--depending on the film's success

Some time ago there was noise that the production was seeking is a love interest for the Dark Knight in the film. The Type? A woman in their late 20s of any ethnicity. Adding that she be tall and "possess physicality".

The notice DID NOT give a name for the character, which led to speculation that it was anyone from Vicki Vale to Wonder Woman. A leaked casting call had fanboys thinking that the Amazon warrior was in the pic.

A love interest for Bats suggests that he will have a larger part in the film than expected.

Rumors started that reportedly confirmed that Jason Momoa has been cast as Aquaman for both DOJ and "Justice League". In response Momoa posted a new photo via Instagram that seemed like a response to the chatter that could go either way (though most likely it's a denial) - The pic sees him holding a pitchfork like a trident, but he's also holding up his middle finger.

Instead, they stuck with a next generation' mandate. We were told that Joaquin Phoenix came up as a contender for Lex. The trade says that he passed.

Officially Eisenberg isn't allowed to say much, but he does tell Total Film (via CBM) that it was the psychology of the character drew him to the role:

"There are some indications of how the character should behave based on the script, and then as actor makes it his or her own. I got to know one of the writers, Chris Terrio, and we were able to discuss things at length and figure out who this person is to create a real psychology behind what is, perhaps, in a comic book, a less than totally modern psychology. I can only say I've been asked to play an interesting role. A complicated, challenging person."

Eisenberg also talked about the unusual way he was offered the role:

"I realize how popular comic-book movies are, and now, working on They asked me if I wanted to play the part before they sent me the script. I'm not sure how it worked, but it's something I read with the understanding that I could do the role… You know, they don't just hand the scripts out. But I really liked it on its own terms. I would do it if it was for free and it was tiny."

Eisenberg admits that he hasn't seen many comic book movies (including the recent Batman trilogy), but his research did include watching Gene Hackman's portrayal of Lex as seen in 1978's Superman: The Movie directed by Richard Donner--he's well aware of the current wave of the superhero film genre renaissance:

"I realize how popular comic-book movies are, and now, working on one, I realize why they're popular - the story is really good, the dialogue is really good, the artistry behind every department is high, the acting is really good. So if they're all put together with that level of quality."

According to their sources, the serial killer Zsasz will fight with Affleck's Batman in an early Gotham City-set scene. Edge will be the slimy public relations head of LexCorp who goes toe to toe with Lois Lane on a TV talk show. Cain will meet with Luthor's bodyguard Mercy to set up an assassination. There's also another baddie that is yet to be cast . In this incarnation Waller's a stern, intimidating senator who sees Superman as a threat and comes up with a counter measure to stop him.

Singer Justin Bieber uploaded a photo on his Instagram account showing him holding up what appeared to be a personalized script for the film with the hashtag "#Robin" but it turned out to be a prop for a Funny or Die skit.

The DOJ release was delayed a full 10 months for a number of reasons. As a result, the original release date of July 17th 2015 was no longer. The studio then targeted a May 6th 2016 release. They quickly inserted the fantasy Pan into that original slot. The sequel was to go head to head with "Captain America 3" ...Nobody thought that the comic book pics would ultimately share the date--Sure enough DOJ blinked--and will now open on March 25th 2016.

Once DOJ is completed Snyder will helm the long planned Justice League movie penned by "Argo" scribe Terrio

"...While I understand that Snyder, Nolan, and Goyer had to stay as far away from the Christopher Reeve era films--I can even understand changing certain aspects of said origin that were once considered sacred...A non spoilery example of what I mean would be the manner in which Jonathan Kent dies. In their effort to give us a more "grounded" or "relatable" Superman" MOS never really soars. The tone of the film is indeed so serious that even as our hero does his thing you are not given the chance to feel relief or exhilaration--Instead we move on to the next big action crisis

The performances are OK here given what I stated above--Cavill wears the "S" very well--but is barely permitted the chance to smile here. The film is humorless save for two brief moments. I get it.. Realism. But even in the cold real world humor exists. I honestly think I chuckled more during Nolan's Bat-films and 2 of then had the word "Dark" in the title..".

Now Hitfix reports that according to multiple sources, there is a mandate at Warner Bros. regarding any of the DC superhero films in development: "No jokes."

Wrtier Drew McWeeny says: "Last week was about the fifth time I've heard that there is a mandate at Warner Bros. regarding any of the DC superhero films in development, and it's very simple and direct and to the point. 'No Jokes'."

McWeeny adds that this mandate could be something else though - a reaction to the failure of 2011's "Green Lantern," a DC Comics film that most see as a failure--some of which is attributed to the film's humor . As a result you won't see Warners attempt to duplicate James Gunn's great film adaptation of Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" style caper movie using a DC hero any time soon.

Sigh. Can't we find a happy medium and meet there? Daniel Craig's James Bond is more serious than any incarnation to come before him--but even he is allowed to crack wise every now and then...No one wants to relive Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin for sure. But there is humor in "real" life too. Just as many "serious" comic books have bits of humor and even satire.

As various actors finish up their mufti-picture deals that currently make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's expected that their characters will depart and be replaced with new ones introduced at different points be it in their own standalone films or as supporting roles in others.

According to the report, the only new person that appears to be a lock is Ms. Marvel, aka Captain Marvel, but the company is said to be having second thoughts about wedging in the character in what is effectively a cameo and may instead give her a bigger debut in a juicier role somewhere else first -a film of her own perhaps.

Amy decision doesn't have to be made yet since the make-up of the new team won't be fully determined until the scene is shot. The scene could be saved for either scheduled reshoots or as part of the shooting schedule of Captain America 3 in April of next year.

We will find out Marvel's plans moving forward when "Ultron" opens on May 1, 2015.

Production is currently underway at Leavesden Studios in the UK, ahead of location shooting around England and Wales to meet its July 1, 2016 bow.

Skarsgard is not in any of the pics but three of the key
supporting players are -Robbie, Waltz and Casper Crump as Captain Kerchover…Shooting has been taking place this week in Berkshire, England for several scenes set aboard a steam paddle boat.

Disney/Lucasfilm
haven't revealed any character details at all however, so which of
the newcomers is playing which roles is all speculation at this
point.

The site claims Gleeson is NOT playing Luke Skywalker's son. They don't know
who he's playing, but they're certain it's not a Skywalker.

The production is set to returnto the island of Skellig Michael, a World
Heritage-listed island in the Atlantic Ocean, 11.6 km west of the
Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry. The Skellig is home to some ancient
Christian Monastic ruins.. A November shoot is planned--when the scenery will look very different which
would indicate that we will see the passage of time at this location.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS BEGIN:

After that comes the rumors and speculative bits. They hear that
Skelling Michael Island will serve as the location for the Sith Homeworld, which was called Korriban in the previous expanded lore (no
word on what the film will call it).

The location of course is where Hamill's Luke Skywalker has been
held captive. In fact they say he was taken shortly after Return of the Jedi which is why Gleeson isn't Luke's so--he has no children:

"We know that the Sith Homeworld was in the re-tooled Michael Ardnt
draft of the script, so this next part might be old info we're getting
pushed back at us, but: Skelling Michael Island is the Sith Homeworld,
the stone hut ruins on that island are a control center and the planet
itself is somehow the weapon. That's no moon! That's no planet! MASSIVE
BAD THINGS."

"I'm definitely not in [Episode VII]. As
you know, he's dead by then. I know, we believe in reincarnation, and
holograms… But you know, they are going to take many twists on the
story as the years go on, and I guess they may go back to a time - I've
got no clue, I'm speaking off the top of my head - when the Emperor
ran the universe. And I don't want anyone else to play him, do I?"

In a new post from earlier this week Latino Review claims that Palpatine is part of the new trilogy after all--though played by another actor:

"Two independent sources have recently written to us to
confirm something we had heard back when production first began. Even
though Star Wars: Episode VII (as well as the following two sequels)
will feature its share of new villains, the person pulling the strings,
the real puppet master, the big bad of the trilogy is none other than
Emperor Palpatine. A lot can happen during the fall of an Empire, and maybe the moments
we took to see our heroes party with the Ewoks was a forced perspective
on something much more sinister. We all know that Lando blew up the second Death Star in the Millennium Falcon, and we know Luke had enough
time to carry his dying father to a shuttle bay and unmask him. We also
know, from Star Wars: Empire Strikes Backthat when you throw someone
(or in Luke's case, himself) down the tubes of a large space station,
you might not necessarily die. My source told me that The Emperor '100%' will appear in Star Wars
Episode VII and VIII. Don't look for confirmations from this from Ian
McDiarmid, because he's not portraying the Emperor this time. Will this
big bad resemble the craggy old man of Return of the Jedi? Now that is
the question."

SPOILERS END

James Earl Jones, the man behind the voice of Star Wars villain Darth Vader was asked by Variety recently about the possibility of playing the character in more films, perhaps one of the Spin-Off Films for example set before "Return of the Jedi". He said: "Oh no. I've got no illusions that I will or even hankerings to be in them, but I'm very proud to have been part of the original."

Kasdan and Kinberg would also join the projects as producers with Kennedy.
There was a scheduled two-week production hiatus in August to allow for adjustments in the shooting schedule following Ford's recovery from that injury where he broke his left leg.

Production is scheduled to take place through September at Pinewood Studio in England. The film has a confirmed release date of December 18, 2015.

According to Collider Phoenix and agency reps say the deal hasn't been finalised
yet, and there's still a few last details to work out. He did confirm
that Phoenix and Marvel met this week about it. Phoenix could still walk away, the multi-picture commitment likely being
the sticking point, but for now it seems as if the studio has him in mind
and we'll know either way in the next few weeks whether Phoenix
will sign on the dotted line.

Now part of the studio's phase three or four plans--Created in 1963 in the comics byStan Lee and Steve Ditko
--Doctor Strange tells the story of an arrogant surgeon who is
injured in a car accident and goes on to become the Sorcerer Supreme
of the universe. Using his magical powers Strange protects the earth
from attacks from other realms.

Depp is said to have had a meeting "to discuss taking on the role of Dr. Strange." His strong ties to Disney, Marvel's owners, makes him an ideal candidate

On the heels of the director potentials Bleeding Cool reported that: "According to one pretty solid Marvel-adjacent source, Mads Mikkelsen apparently is, or has been, somewhere in the mix for the film's early casting discussions."

"Certainly Captain America will be back. The expectation would be that Bucky will be back and there's certain characters in the Marvel Universe that Cap has a strong connection to but we've also got some tricks up our sleeve for this one an we're hard at work. That's a very crowded summer and there's high expectations so we're all hard at work trying to exceed those expectations and really carve out a big, splashy idea for Captain America 3."

"That's such a hard question because we've kind of already done that. Do they have to be under contract with Marvel? Maybe they are at another studio. When I started collecting, The Secret Wars was one of the first books I ever bought, so that's always been an obsession of mine to see something of that scale done - a crossover. I don't know if that would ever be possible, with all the different situations at the studios. But I would love to see a lot of characters on screen together."

The DOJ release was delayed a full 10 months for a number of reasons. As a result, the original release date of July 17th 2015 was no longer. The studio then targeted a May 6th 2016 release. They quickly inserted the fantasy Pan into that original slot....Nobody thought that the comic book pics would ultimately share the date--Sure enough DOJ blinked--and will now open on March 25th 2016.

While fanboys loved to speculate what the outcome was gonna be Russo was gracious:

"We knew when they announced that it was somewhat of a placeholder, that it was a game of chicken to see if Marvel really had a film that was going to land on that date or not. We knew it was never going to happen. We knew those two films would never stay on that date. So we knew somebody was going to move."

Meanwhile, Joe's brother and fellow co-director Anthony Russo answered a few questions about the Cap 3. He tells Movies.com:

"I can't divulge who is going to be in the film, but I think fans are going to freak out when they hear about it. We wanted to push the character forward into the modern age with The Winter Soldier, and we want to keep pushing the character forward. We always want to be true to who Captain America is, but we want to surprise people about where he can go and what he's capable of. That's about as specific as I can get about where we might take him."

"The relationship between Cap and the Winter Soldier was never resolved at the end of the last movie. Thinking about where that relationship can go is a piece of the puzzle for us for sure. That character is a wonderfully, beautifully tragic figure in the sense of is he the world's most feared assassin or is he the world's longest serving POW. Is he innocent by reason of insanity or the equivalent of it because he's been mind controlled or is he irredeemable? Is he ever going to be acceptable to Cap again as the friend that he used to be before he was the Winter Soldier? These are very philosophical, emotional questions that pique our interest and definitely form one layer of the next movie."

Russo also talked to MTV News and was asked if the next film will essentially provide a sense of closure for Steve Rogers and actor Chris Evans. He says:

"I will say this: yes, for satisfying storytelling, you want a beginning, middle and end. That's the natural arc that we all thrive off of in narrative. The great thing about the [Marvel Cinematic Universe], just like the publishing, it's a very vast, inter-connected universe, where characters will have their rise and fall, so to speak, and hand off to other characters. As the cinematic universe moves forward, you may start to see the cinematic universe adopt that same pattern."

Speaking with Collider, we are told that the threequel's subtitle will be revealed shortly:

"It will be soon. Look, sometimes the announcement waits
on certain business deals to be completed so we're just kind of waiting
on the business end of the issue to sort of settle itself and we'll be
ready to announce it. But we're hoping in a month or so at the most."

Joe Russo adds to Cinema Blend
that: "I think when people learn the title of Cap 3, they'll
understand that Marvel is continuing to take really big swings"
indicating it could well take its name from a famed Captain America
comic book arc. The success of "Guardians of the Galaxy" is also
allowing them as writers to "take more chances, we can be riskier."

"Fifty Shades of Grey" and "The Fall" star Jamie Dornan was previously suggested as a potential candidate a few
weeks ago, but his commitment to the steamy sex franchise
may have blocked him from doing the role If that report is true then there's bit of irony considering Dornan replaced Hunnam in
the lead role in Grey after he suddenly left the film

The film is the first in a proposed 3-movie fantasy re-telling of the King Arthur legend.

"Pacific Rim"
star Idris Elba would portray Bedivere, who serves as the right hand man to
Arthur's father, and is tasked with teaching Arthur how to lead an
army.

The
two girls play fifteen-year-old yoga fans who have an after-school job
at a Manitoba convenience store. When an ancient evil rises from
beneath Canada's crust and threatens their invitation to a Grade 12
party, they join forces with a legendary man-hunter from Montreal named Guy Lapointe (Depp) to fight for their lives.

The project is being dubbed a comic book movie. Smith says: "Instead
of yet another dude saving the day, our antiheroes are the most feared
and formidable creatures man has ever encountered: two fifteen year old
girls."

The original series of 4 films from 1983-1997 followed the Griswold family as they took a summer road trip across America, a European Vacation, stayed home for a Christmas Vacation, (the best of the sequels in my opinion) and a Vegas Vacation with mishaps happening all along the way.

Rusty plans to take his family on a road trip similar to the one he and his parents and sister took to
Walley World, America's greatest amusement park.when he was young. Christina Applegate will play Helm’s strong-willed wife who might be losing interest in him.

Charlie Day will play a river raft touring guide. Chris Hemsworth will play Audrey's boyfriend, an up and coming anchorman. While it isn't known exactly when production will begin, Hemsworth will shoot his role before doing "The Huntsman" which starts production early next year.

A new international trailer and one-sheet are out for the big screen version of Joe Hill's 2010 novelHorns has arrived.

Daniel Radcliffe will play Ig Perrish, the lead suspect in the violent rape and killing of his girlfriend. Hung over from a night of hard drinking, Ig awakens one morning to find horns starting to grow from his head. Their power drives people to confess sins and give in to selfish impulses - becoming an effective tool in his quest to discover the circumstances of his girlfriend Merrin's (Juno Temple) death.